2013-05-09

E. F. Wallengren Article

I've just found a recent and beautiful article about Falcon Crest producer E. F. Wallengren who died in 2003. Claire Whittaker (his mother who also worked as a producer on the show) is mentioned, too.

Hoops And Hope

The enduring legacy of Coach Ernie

Every year on a Saturday in May, more hundreds of people pack the
Calabasas High School gym for the E.F. Wallengren Hoopfest. They come to
play basketball, of course, but that’s just the beginning.
The event, now celebrating its 10th year, was created in honor of
E.F. “Ernie” Wallengren, a Calabasas High basketball coach who died in
2003 after battling ALS for two years. Hoopfest is not only a
celebration of Ernie’s life, but also a continuation of his dream to
find a cure for ALS.
All proceeds go to the E.F. Wallengren Fund for ALS Research at The
ALS Association. The fund supports stem cell research and was
established by Ernie and his family while he was still alive.
This year’s Hoopfest is May 18.
“Hoopfest has been a wonderful way of honoring Ernie and the
commitment he had to the community, while also raising funds for ALS
research,” said his mother, Claire Whitaker, who helps organize the
event with other family members. “It’s meant a lot to me. I tell people,
‘I’m 85 years old, and I’m not going to die until there’s a cure for
this disease.’”
A television writer and producer of such shows as “Falcon Crest,”
“Touched by an Angel” and “ Baywatch,” Ernie also loved basketball. He
and his wife, Cheryl, raised five children, and he often volunteered to
coach his kids’ teams.
He became the junior varsity basketball coach at Calabasas High
School and started a club team also, reaching out to include
underprivileged and troubled youth he saw hanging out at the gym.
When kids couldn’t afford uniforms or trips, he provided them. If
they needed a place to stay, they stayed at his house. There were almost
always extra plates at the table, and many of those kids went on to
play college basketball.

Even after Ernie was diagnosed with ALS in 2001, he continued to
coach from his wheelchair. When that became impossible, he still
attended games and traveled with the team.
At his funeral, church rows were filled with boys in basketball jerseys, saying goodbye to Coach Ernie.
After Ernie’s death, two fellow coaches suggested creating a
basketball-themed fundraiser and Hoopfest was born. Initially a low-key
affair, the event now features all-day basketball, a three-point
shootout, a silent auction, food, T-shirts and music from radio station
KOST-FM, where Ernie’s brother, Mark Wallengren, works as a morning show host.
In addition to Hoopfest, family members conduct a twice-yearly
letter-writing campaign, and they established an ALS Promise Fund
website in 2011. In all, their efforts have raised nearly $500,000 over the past decade.
“We get back what we put in 100-fold,” Cheryl Wallengren said. “What
warms my heart is that so many of the kids he coached still come to
Hoopfest, even though they’re grown up. They’ve never forgotten him.”